Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery Conference Call Live Updates and Recap [Updated]

Strikeforce will be holding a conference call at 2:00 PM EST for the "Heavy Artillery" show to be held May 15th in St. Louis, Missouri. Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, challenger Brett "the Grim" Rogers, and Strikeforce founder and CEO Scott Coker will be on hand for the call.

For live updates, follow me on Twitter. If there are any questions you would like me to ask any of the participants, send them to me there.

Check back later for a full rundown of the call.

UPDATE [3:05 EST] - Click here for audio:

I just got off the call. Scott Coker only lasted twenty minutes and had to run to some meeting. Alistair Overeem and Brett Rogers were both engaging for most of the questions. Highlights:

-Lots of Fedor talk. Alistair thinks Fedor or more likely his management doesn't want to fight him. When asked why they would avoid fighting him, Alistair responded that he believes they're protecting his record and view him as a threat. When asked who he would want to fight if he wins the title, Rogers through out Fedor's name without any hesitation.

-It took a few questions, but the steroid elephant was broached fairly early. Brett hinted that he was suspicious of Overeem's weight gain and said he can be tested at any time, as there's nothing for him to hide. Overeem brushed off any criticisms, and said people have a right to whatever opinion they want to have. He added that he'll pee clean just like everyone else.

-Overeem was asked about his move to heavyweight. He said when he first signed with PRIDE, he had to make a choice whether to fight at heavyweight or light heavyweight. He felt he was too small to be fighting at heavyweight and made the decision to fight at 205. As his career progressed, it became much harder to make the cut, so he decided to move up. The move has allowed him to eat what he wants and weight train without worrying about getting too big.

-Both fighters were very cautious about revealing much about their preparations or gameplans. Brett talked about moving out of Minnesota to train, going out to California to train with Antonio McKee and spending some time at Xtreme Couture in Vegas among other places.

-Rogers described finding sparring partners who are "kangarooish" to prepare for Overeem.

-Coker was very hesitant to discuss anything related to M-1. He did say that the M-1 deal has never been about one fight, but many fights. He also confirmed that we'll be seeing more M-1 fighters on the undercard of co-promoted events.

-Coker refused to make any firm predictations about a Strikeforce PPV in 2010.

Strikeforce St. Louis: Heavy Artillery coverage